LAHORE: A sessions court on Monday withdrew bailable arrest warrants for Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill earlier issued for his absence in a criminal complaint of defamation against him filed by a Turkish company.

Mr Gill, through his legal pleader, filed an application seeking cancelation of the warrants for his arrest pleading that absence during the previous hearing was not deliberate. The pleader said there had been a misunderstanding about the date of the hearing.

Additional District & Sessions Judge Hafiz Husnain Azhar Shah allowed the application and withdrew the bailable warrants for the arrest of Gill. The court had already allowed Gill to join the proceedings through a pleader.

M/s Platform Turizm Tasimacilik, a subsidiary of Al-Bayrak Group of companies, filed the defamation complaint seeking action against the SAPM under sections 499 and 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code for leveling false allegations against it.

Islampura police had also registered a case on a complaint of Gill against the officials of the Turkish company pursuing the defamation proceedings against him.

However, the company’s officials Tahir Mobeen and two Turkish citizens – Cemil Senocak and Yemen Yemenoglu – were acquitted in the case.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2021